How do companies thrive when there are too many jobs and not enough people to fill them?

Talent Crunch: How are natural products companies navigating the workforce shortage?

With elderberry’s fortunes rising along with the research, can we expect its good luck to continue?

Respect your elders: Checking in with elderberry

Mike Straus is a freelance writer living in Kelowna, Canada. He has written for publications including 

Canadian Chiropractor Magazine, Massage Therapy Canada, 

In a reversal of fortunes from the historic 2009 recession, industries all around the world are facing a hiring crunch. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in the United States alone, there were 11.5 million job openings across all industries as of March 31, 2022. That’s the highest number of simultaneous job openings on record since the BLS started tracking job openings 22 years ago.

The worker shortage is affecting different aspects of the nutritional supplements and natural health products industry, depending on the country in question, and there doesn’t appear to be one single cause behind these staffing challenges. Rather, a confluence of economic, pandemic-related, and other factors is widening the gap between companies’ required staffing levels and the number of both skilled and unskilled workers available.

As the workforce shortage continues, companies will need to get creative and break out of old patterns in order to attract new hires. Here are some of the trends driving the natural products industry’s workforce shortage—and some of the effects companies are feeling from it.

Companies Pay More in Overtime and Temp Fees

The global labor shortage is forcing manufacturers to navigate a dual challenge: the need to pay higher labor fees for lower-quality work. In stark contrast to the years following the 2009 recession, when a single job posting could attract innumerable applicants regardless of the posted wage, companies today are finding that filling their immediate short-term staffing needs requires creative solutions. Unable to find permanent full-time staff, a number of companies are using temp agencies to fill the gaps.

“We’re relying more and more on temp services to fill labor demands,” says Barbara Stafford, vice president of people experience at contract manufacturer Best Formulations (City of Industry, CA). “But temp solutions are short-term, and temp workers can’t match the quality or efficiency of fully trained, full-time employees. The labor shortage is also causing our trained employees to work overtime, further driving up labor costs on top of already-increasing wages.”

Stafford says the labor shortage is among both skilled and unskilled workers. She notes that in California, human resources professionals are very difficult to come by. There are also shortages of skilled workers in R&D, chemistry, and machine operations. Stafford says it’s difficult to recruit skilled employees to work in a facility when competing employers are offering work-from-home opportunities. As a result, companies must act more aggressively to overhaul the entire employee experience.

“Offering a hybrid work environment and flexible hours is a must for positions that can be done from home,” Stafford explains. “Higher salaries and increased benefits are also necessary to attract workers. Wages are increasing at a pace we’ve never seen before; the large companies are all advertising starting wages well above minimum wage, and we need to keep up because that’s now the expectation from workers, even from those with very little experience.”

Mark LeDoux, CEO and chairman of the board at Natural Alternatives International (NAI; Carlsbad, CA), says companies need to get creative in order to recruit and retain talent. Paying competitive wages, he explains, is imperative for all employers—but that’s not where recruitment efforts should end.

“Companies that are willing to invest in the future of their workforce will prosper,” LeDoux explains. “That means enabling employees to share in the profitability of the enterprise. It means ensuring employees can secure their financial futures through generous retirement programs, life insurance coverage, and best-in-class family health coverage. This requires capital, visionary leadership, and proper execution.”

Investing in these more robust salary and benefits packages is likely the most effective way to attract new talent. In October 2021, UC Berkeley professor of public policy and Rhodes Scholar Robert Reich, JD, wrote in a column for 

that there is no labor shortage; rather, there is a 

 general strike for higher pay and better working conditions.

 Reich served as Secretary of Labor for President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997 and previously worked in the Ford and Carter administrations.

In essence, Reich argues that American workers’ priorities have radically changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and workers are no longer willing to tolerate jobs that don’t provide healthcare, that don’t pay a living wage, that don’t offer hazard pay for dangerous work, that don’t offer paid sick leave, and that don’t fund childcare. In order to appeal to the new core values of the post-pandemic labor market, employers will need to continually reevaluate their salary and benefits offerings to determine whether what was competitive six months ago will continue to be competitive six months from now.

Reich’s argument is borne out in anecdotes from companies like Gravity Payments (Seattle, WA). In May 2021, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price disclosed through social media that his company receives 300 applications for every job opening they advertise; Price famously raised his company’s minimum starting salary to $70,000/year in 2015.

Beyond implementing higher salaries for new hires, companies must also focus on retaining their existing employees. LeDoux recommends that companies examine current employees’ wages to ensure current team members are being competitively compensated. In the case of NAI’s own labor shortage, LeDoux says the company improved recruitment and retention by introducing an aggressive new profit-sharing program for employees, enhancing personnel benefits, and doling out super-sized raises—leapfrogging past rates that would have historically been considered competitive—to secure current staff.

Cultural and Logistics Changes Can Give Employees Meaning

Paying higher wages and expanding benefits to attract permanent staff are both effective and imperative for companies that want to fix their talent crunches. But beyond dollars and cents, there are other changes employers can make that can attract and retain talent.

LeDoux says that in some cases, companies are outsourcing manufacturing entirely to prioritize marketing, messaging, and direct-to-consumer commerce instead. In other cases, he has seen companies install robotic systems to tackle repetitive jobs, freeing up employees for more rewarding and challenging work. These logistical measures can enable companies to make the most of their current workforce when finding new employees proves impossible.

LeDoux also recommends that companies strive to offer employees more than just a paycheck. People don’t just want jobs, he says; they want fulfilling jobs that create a sense of ownership.

“People want a vision. They want to feel like they’re part of an enterprise that’s doing good for the community and beyond. Employees want to feel ownership. We encourage our employees to be proactive in suggesting improvements for workflow or planning, and we reward them with the profits generated from these modifications.”

The natural products industry’s staffing shortage means employers can no longer expect to meet adequate staffing levels by simply offering a job. Attracting and retaining talent means offering the highest possible salary, with the most generous possible benefits, regardless of the position’s seniority or the candidate’s level of experience. It also means creating a company culture that employees want to be part of, whether that’s through profit sharing, flexwork policies, giving employees more authority and autonomy in the workplace, or a top-down overhaul of your entire HR structure.

Perhaps most importantly, filling open positions in the current labor market requires a paradigm shift. Gone are the recession-era days when any old job would do; instead, the balance of power has dramatically shifted from employers to job seekers. Today’s skilled and unskilled workers are looking for more than just a job—and with too many job vacancies and not enough candidates to fill them, it’s incumbent on employers to make themselves attractive places to work.

United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. “

Job Openings and Labor Turnover – March 2022.

Is America Experiencing an Unofficial General Strike?

Articles

Alissa Marrapodi is Industry Insights Contributor, Custom Content Editor, MJH Life Sciences.

Proteinuria is a condition in type 2 diabetes patients in which levels of protein in the urine are elevated—which can then become an indication of kidney damage and renal disease. A new study published in 

Bioactive Compounds in Health and Disease

 found that the bioactive compound squalene may help reduce proteinuria.

Squalene’s health benefits are attributed to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Researchers from the Tehran University of Medical Science, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of California–San Diego recruited 150 patients for the study. The subjects were separated into five groups for 84 days, with 14-day interval assessments:

Group 1: 30 healthy patients – healthy control group

Group 2: 30 diabetic patients – diabetic control group

Group 3: 30 type 2 diabetic patients consumed 200 mg/day of squalene (extracted from shark liver)

Group 4: 30 type 2 diabetic patients consumed 400 mg/day of squalene

Group 5: 30 type 2 diabetic patients consumed 600 mg/day of squalene

The squalene subjects—Groups 3, 4, and 5—showed a reduction in proteinuria level, with groups 3 and 4 showing a 10.83% and 16.14% reduction, respectively. Group 5 saw the highest reduction: 25.81% compared to the diabetic control group. A higher dose of squalene serum consumption was associated with a greater level of decrease in proteinuria.

Additionally, there were substantial changes in other health-related parameters, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), albumin, transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFbeta1), and creatinine levels.

The results were lauded by squalene ingredient supplier PhytoGaia (New York City). “I am encouraged by this study where supplementation of squalene may potentially help us maintain overall health and well-being,” says PhytoGaia President Bryan See in a press release. “It adds to the growing body of scientific evidence that squalene holds a myriad of unique health benefits. In this regard, I look forward to working with brand owners in formulating products with our STGaia, a natural plant squalene with tocotrienols/tocopherol complex, the first of its kind in the market to address such overall health.”

The effect of squalene on proteinuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Bioactive Compounds in Health and Disease,

A newly published study found that squalene lowered proteinuria, one of the key markers for renal disease, in type 2 diabetes patients.

Squalene may lower key marker for renal disease in type 2 diabetes patients, study shows

Jennifer Grebow is the editor-in-chief of 

, an award-winning media-content provider in the dietary supplement and natural products market. 

, an MJH Life Sciences brand, provides insights and industry updates critical to manufacturers of dietary supplements, healthy foods, and nutritious beverages. 

 keeps industry abreast of current market trends, research updates, news, and regulatory developments. 

goes beyond the 24-hour news cycle and provides in-depth analysis to help industry players navigate the challenges and changes in the near- and long-term. 

, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America, dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels.

Mushroom extracts supplier Nammex (Gibsons, BC, Canada) has welcomed Bill Chioffi to its management team. Chioffi will serve as the company’s chief strategy and innovation officer.

Chioffi’s background includes a 21-year tenure with Gaia Herbs, including as vice president of global sourcing and sustainability. He also served as vice president of strategic partnerships and business development for the Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research at Sonoran University of Health Sciences (formerly SCNM). He is also a member of nonprofit boards United Plant Savers, The Sustainable Herbs Program, and Appalachian Forest Farmers.

“Nammex has long advocated for best practices in the mushroom category, and the company’s products are second to none,” said Chioffi in a press release. “I’m delighted to be part of such a stellar company as the mushroom category undergoes such rapid growth in consumer demand.”

“Bill’s longstanding relationships in the natural products sector coupled with his intimate hands-on knowledge of the responsible production, use, and research of traditional medicines are important attributes that Bill brings to his new role at Nammex,” said Jeff Chilton, Nammex's founder and president.

Bill Chioffi previously served as vice president of global sourcing and sustainability at Gaia Herbs.

Mushroom supplier Nammex names new chief strategy and innovation officer

Probiotic beverage and supplement company GoodBelly Probiotics has launched a new Immune Support product line. The new Immune Support line features both quart beverages and shots featuring scientifically backed probiotic strains designed to support the immune system.

The GoodBelly Immune Support Quarts come in 32-oz cartons and contain the probiotic strains 

 8700:2. The drinks are offered in three flavors: pineapple, passionfruit, and citrus guava.

The GoodBelly Immune Support Shots contain the same scientifically backed probiotic strains as the quarts and are packaged in 2.7-oz single servings for convenient use on the go. The shot flavors are pineapple passionfruit and lemon ginger turmeric.

The products are certified USDA Organic, non-GMO, dairy-free, vegan, soy-free, and have no added sugar.

The new Immune Support line features both quart beverages and shots featuring scientifically backed probiotic strains designed to support the immune system.

Probiotic drink company GoodBelly launches Immune Support beverage and shot line

Clasado Biosciences' GOS prebiotic ingredient. Photo from Clasado Biosciences.

Clasado Biosciences (Berkshire, UK) is expanding distribution of its galactooligosaccharide (GOS) prebiotic ingredient in Asia Pacific. Previously, the company began working with distribution partner CTC Group Philippines. This partnership will now cover Indonesia and Vietnam.

“It’s clear that the worldwide appetite for prebiotics is climbing, and gut health is at the top of the agenda,” David Mharakurwa, director of sales, APAC and MEA, Clasado Biosciences, said in a press release. “We appointed CTC Group as key distributor for the Philippines in 2021, and we are now extending our relationship to the regions of Indonesia and Vietnam, the latter of which CTC Group has exclusivity in every category but dairy. By channeling our multi-award-winning functional ingredient through our established partner, we are supporting public health in a whole new way, making it simpler than ever for brands to connect with a more engaged and proactive health audience.”

Lars O. Wiemann, chief scientific officer and international business development at CTC Group, said in the press release: “We are delighted to work in partnership with Clasado Biosciences in expanding the global reach of Bimuno GOS. We pride ourselves on one of the most comprehensive functional ingredient product ranges to the pan-Asian market, and Bimuno GOS makes a very natural addition to our lineup. The health and nutrition audience in Vietnam and Indonesia mirrors the same growth in gut health awareness seen around the globe. Now is the ideal time for formulators in the region to explore the commercial potential of prebiotics, and we look forward to opening a lot of important conversations around Bimuno GOS.”

Clasado Biosciences is expanding distribution of its GOS prebiotic ingredient in Asia Pacific.

Clasado’s Bimuno GOS prebiotic expands to Indonesia and Vietnam

Hemp advocacy group the U.S. Hemp Roundtable (Washington, DC) sent a letter on August 5 to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) asking the lawmakers to consider further changes to their recently introduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). The bill, which the senators first 

 this July. The bill would remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and allow states to create their own cannabis laws. In its letter to the senators, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable 

First and foremost, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable states that language in the bill that would require CBD manufacturers to submit New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notifications for all CBD supplements be changed. The group states that while it appreciates that the bill carves out a regulatory pathway for CBD supplements, hemp-derived CBD should be treated “like any other botanical ingredient, subject to the same regulatory regimes.” In other words, like other botanical ingredients, CBD ingredients should be able to rely on Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) safety conclusions in lieu of NDI notifications.

Moreover, the group reiterates its concerns that the bill only specifically calls for the legality of hemp-derived CBD and not other hemp-derived cannabinoids. It also suggests creating a separate regulatory pathway for non-intoxicating hemp and intoxicating cannabis products.

U.S. Hemp Roundtable also calls the CAOA’s threshold for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp of 0.001% total THC “an arbitrary and unrealistic standard.” States the group: “No full-spectrum or broad-spectrum hemp extract would qualify, and likely most CBD isolates would be challenged to comply, given the limitations of current testing technology. Indeed, this limit would delegate most, if not all, popular non-intoxicating CBD and hemp extract products to the adult-use cannabis market.”

Hemp advocacy group the U.S. Hemp Roundtable reiterated its belief that legal protections should cover all hemp cannabinoids and not just CBD.

U.S. Hemp Roundtable asks senators to expand legal protections to all hemp cannabinoids in Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act

 from Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN; Washington, DC), to the dietary supplement industry addresses what Mister says is “disinformation” circulating in discussions and media reporting about the FDA Safety & Landmark Advancements Act (FDASLA). Specifically, Mister addresses discussions over the 

 proposals for dietary supplements included in the bill’s language. (The Senate version of the bill includes the mandatory product listing language while a House version of the bill 

) CRN has been a proponent of creating a federal mandatory product listing for dietary supplements.

In his letter, Mister states, “I want to reassure you that we continue to advocate for advancing this legislation and honor the guiding principles for this initiative directed by CRN’s Board of Directors. On the other hand, I am distressed to see so much disinformation being promoted that reflects lack of understanding of the complicated Congressional process, intentional misdirection and false information about what is in the bill, and intentional efforts to deceive the industry about the consequences of this legislation.”

Mister reports that negotiations with lawmakers are ongoing over any mandatory product listing language for dietary supplements that would be included in FDASLA, whose primary purpose is to reauthorize FDA user fees for pharmaceutical drugs. In June, the Senate HELP Committee passed a version of FDASLA that 

 some requests made by supplement industry groups, including CRN, to amend language related to the bill’s mandatory product listing provisions for dietary supplements. Then in July, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced 

 that does not include a mandatory product listing provision for dietary supplements at all.

CRN’s negotiations with lawmakers over the original FDASLA bill continue—and Mister states that if changes that CRN feels are critical ultimately aren’t made to the FDASLA, that the association would support Senator Burr’s bill without mandatory product listing requirements.

But there is still ongoing work to revise the current FDASLA bill. Writes Mister: “Contrary to what you may have heard, the negotiations for dietary supplement product listing continue with progress made each day toward getting a final bill that CRN can support. The press reports you may have read about a ‘stripped-down, user fee only bill’ are still a possibility, and in fact, if CRN is not able to reach agreement on the ‘must have’ changes to the Senate Committee–passed bill, CRN would even support that bare bones reauthorization of the user fees without any mention of dietary supplements. But we are not at that juncture yet, and for now, we continue our discussions with the Hill.”

Mister’s letter then address what he says is inaccurate information being floated in discussions about FDASLA’s mandatory product listing language.

First, he says, arguments that FDASLA should restrict its contents only to drug-related issues are not well founded, as historically drug user fee bill proposals, which happen every five years, have addressed other issues such as bioterrorism. “So the notion that FDASLA must remain ‘pure’ to drugs and devices only is an effort to deflect attention from the real issues,” Mister writes. He continues, “These ‘must-pass’ omnibus bills are one of the few ways to get anything done…For people who know how to get things done in Washington, it’s the manner of doing business…We are fortunate to have FDASLA advancing with an opportunity to hitch a ride.” He also notes that supplements and the mandatory product listing language do not threaten the bill’s overall passage; rather, he states, “If the legislation does not pass, it will be over an impasse on drug issues,” and not because of any supplement provisions, which are viewed as less important than the bill’s drug provisions.

Mister also notes that while Senator Burr’s own version of a reauthorization bill does not include a mandatory product listing component for supplements, it is not because the Senator expressed objection to any supplement proposals in FDASLA. Rather, he says, objections Senator Burr expressed to the original FDASLA bill “are all related to drugs and devices, not supplements.”

“But to be clear,” Mister wrote, “[Senator Burr’s] statement explaining his bill doesn’t even mention supplements (or cosmetics—another provision of FDASLA). It is inaccurate to suggest that he is conceding to the will of the supplement industry with this alternative legislation.”

Mister says CRN has made progress in getting some critical changes made to the Senate committee–approved version of FDASLA, and one change in particular that would reassure industry that the bill does not give FDA premarket approval over dietary supplements. Mister writes that “when some industry stakeholders falsely alleged that the legislation ‘would require premarket approval,’ we approached the HELP committee for further assurances. The committee-approved version of FDASLA now contains the provision that ‘Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant the Secretary authority to require the approval of a dietary supplement prior to marketing.’ The committee bill also includes some protections for confidential business information (although we are asking for more).”

“Our most recent discussions suggest that there is opportunity for dialogue on our remaining issues,” Mister writes.

Mister also addresses those who believe that any movement toward a mandatory product listing for dietary supplements should wait until there is a greater effort to reform supplement regulations altogether and to enact other large changes, like allowing third parties to conduct facility inspections on behalf of FDA. Mister expresses doubt that more comprehensive changes to supplement regulations could happen in a timely manner especially in the current political climate. Whereas, he says, by focusing on the FDASLA bill that’s already in progress, “mandatory listing is achievable in this Congress.”

At the conclusion of his letter, Mister urges industry stakeholders, “I encourage you over the next few months to be scrupulous consumers of information and maintain a healthy skepticism when you read or hear that the product listing can’t be achieved or would doom the industry.”

In an August 8 open letter to the dietary supplements industry about the FDA Safety & Landmark Advancements Act (FDASLA) and mandatory product listing proposals, the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s President and CEO Steve Mister reports that “negotiations for dietary supplement product listing continue with progress made each day toward getting a final bill that CRN can support.”

CRN’s open letter to supplements industry addresses “disinformation” circulating over mandatory product listing legislation

Nutrition bar company GoMacro (Viola, WI) is working with international recycling company TerraCycle (Trenton, NJ) to help customers recycle the company’s MacroBar nutrition bar wrappers. TerraCycle’s innovative waste-management capabilities enable products and packages like dirty diapers and cigarette butts that would otherwise end up a the landfill to be recycled.

“Participation in the program is easy. Individuals can simply sign up on the GoMacro Free Recycling Program page at 

https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/gomacro

 and mail in packaging that is not recyclable locally using a prepaid shipping label,” a press release states. “Once collected, the packaging is cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.”

To encourage customers to participate, collectors earn points for every shipment of MacroBar packaging waste sent to TerraCycle. These points can be donated to a nonprofit, school, or charitable organization of the consumer’s choice.

GoMacro’s other environmentally conscious efforts include sourcing ethical ingredients, using renewable energy, and reducing overall waste, the company says. Its manufacturing facility runs on 100% renewable wind and solar energy and purchased offset credits from Carbonfund.

“Through this free recycling program, GoMacro is offering consumers an easy way to divert waste from landfills every time they open a bar as a pre or post-workout snack,” said TerraCycle CEO and Founder Tom Szaky in the press release. “By collecting and recycling these items, consumers can demonstrate their respect for the environment not only through the products that they choose but also with how they dispose of the packaging.”

TerraCycle’s innovative waste-management capabilities enable products and packages like dirty diapers and cigarette butts that would otherwise end up in a landfill to be recycled.

GoMacro Protein Bars launches free national recycling program through TerraCycle

PB2 Foods, maker of powdered peanut butter products, is delving into the sports nutrition world with the launch of its first-ever preworkout products. The two new products are designed for intensity and endurance support. Both products provide 10 g of complete protein, contain no added sugar, and are 100% vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free, the firm says.

The Tart Cherry High-Intensity Blend product is designed to provide a boost prior to high-intensity workouts with a blend of vegetable ingredients and caffeine. The Raspberry Endurance Blend product combines medium-chain triglycerides and caffeine to support endurance levels during training.

“We’re very excited for loyal PB2 fans and new customers alike to try our premium PB2 Performance Plant Pre-Workout superfood powders,” Craig Entwistle, CEO of PB2 Foods, said in a press release. “Pre-workout products currently on the market tend to be supplements with lots of caffeine. By dialing back the caffeine—our PB2 Performance Plant Pre-Workout formulas contain the equivalent of about one cup of coffee per serving—and adding clean, plant-based protein, we’ve created a pre-workout superfood that is ideal for athletes of all types.”

The two new products are designed to support intensity and endurance during exercise.

Powdered peanut butter maker launches first-ever preworkout products

Kimberly J. Decker writes for the food and nutrition industries from her base in the San Francisco area where she enjoys eating food as much as she does writing about it.

When a wellness ingredient can claim consistent therapeutic use for close to several millennia, it’s fair to say that 1) it’s no longer an up-and-comer, and 2) it must be doing something right.

Such is certainly the case with elderberry (

), which was as much of an herbal staple in Ancient Greece as it is in our own COVID-cursed era.

And as it happens, the pace of science both supporting elderberry’s benefits and elucidating its actions has ramped up significantly even over the past few years, with PubMed listing more than 400 published studies on elderberry (or elder berry, as it sometimes appears; more on that later) from the last half-decade alone.

Looking back a full decade to 2012, Holly E. Johnson, PhD, chief science officer, American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD), notes that roughly 50 to 80 elderberry studies have hit publications each year since, “many of which investigate its bioactivity and mechanistic influences on the immune system,” she adds.

So with elderberry’s fortunes rising along with the research, can we expect the good luck to continue? If brands make the most of this powerful botanical, we sure can.

According to the American Botanical Council’s (ABC; Austin, TX) annual 

 Herb Market Report, mass-market elderberry sales grew first from about $51 million in 2018 to nearly $108 million in 2019, and then to almost $276 million in 2020—an almost stratospheric rise that, in light of the pandemic, was clearly no coincidence. And while the ABC hasn’t crunched 2021’s numbers yet, Stefan Gafner, PhD, ABC’s chief science officer, is confident remarking that the past three years’ domestic growth alone “has been quite impressive.”

interviewed Chris Tower when he was vice president of sales and business development at Artemis International (Fort Wayne, IN). (In August, Tower joined Euromed USA Inc. as general manager.) Tower confirmed that demand for Artemis’s ElderCraft elderberry extract “was off the charts” during that same period, he claimed, adding that, “for perspective, we exhausted our two-year safety stock of frozen berries within calendar 2020 and had to implement a carefully managed allocation process to fulfill sales commitments to customers through the first quarter of 2021.”

While a “relative ebb” had finally descended on the frenzy by 2021’s Q2, with summer ’22 now in full swing and families on the move, Tower declared, “ElderCraft sales and new-product launches have significantly surged again. And flu season is still on the horizon.”

You’ve seen it written both ways—so which is correct: 

“I really like this question,” says Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director, American Botanical Council (ABC; Austin, TX). “And there’s certainly no shortage of opinions on the issue.”

ABC’s Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) published a review on elderberry adulteration in its journal 

 in 2021, and the discussion therein noted that “sources disagree about the use of the common name 

 served as a descriptor for different plant parts—as in elder berry, elder flowers, elder leaves, et al. And while the compound terms 

do see wider use among industry and the public today, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Dietary Supplements & Herbal Medicines (DSHM) Nomenclature Joint Subcommittee actually currently recommends referring to the plant’s fruit as 

“However,” he continues, “industry members appear to prefer the term 

 despite this leading to some inconsistencies in the terminology.”

Of course, all of this is in keeping with elderberry’s track record of periodic surges—a track record that traces back ages.

“Elderberries have a long history of medicinal use,” Gafner points out. “Traditionally, the berry was used for a number of issues, mostly in the form of a juice or syrup as a mild laxative, diuretic, and diaphoretic—perspiration-promoting—agent for the common cold.”

As recently as the flu season of 2018-2019, which Melanie Bush, Artemis’s vice president of science and research, describes as “particularly bad,” “mainstream awareness of elderberry had already been rising, dovetailing nicely with its emerging public reputation as a helpful remedy” for such illness outbreaks.

That awareness merely solidified with COVID-19, and for good reason: “These little dark berries are all about immune support,” Bush says. But don’t take her word for it; survey the science.

Bush notes, for example, that a human pilot study

 conducted in the early-2000s concluded that elderberry can reduce influenza-symptom severity and duration, with a subsequent study

 published less than a decade later demonstrating elderberry extract’s direct antiviral and antibacterial action in a lab setting.

Those findings paved the way for a now oft-cited large-scale human clinical trial

 involving long-haul flight passengers confirming elderberry’s ability to reduce symptom severity and duration in upper respiratory tract infections like colds and flu.

 evaluating all clinical data generated to date leveled this “clinically relevant verdict,” says Bush: “Supplementation with elderberry extract reduces symptom duration and severity in colds and influenza. There you have it.”

What more could anyone want? Well, mechanistic data wouldn’t hurt, and that’s just what more recent research is delivering.

Consider that some of the main bioactives in European black elderberry are anthocyanin flavonoids, Bush explains, with cyanidin-3-sambubioside predominant among them. Studies now show that cyanidin-3-sambubioside appears to block the binding of influenza viral glycoproteins to host cells, she says, thus blocking virus entry and replication.

“Additionally,” Bush continues, “polysaccharides from elderberry were identified as having immune-boosting properties

—evidence that was corroborated in a brand-new study in which the polysaccharides in ElderCraft extract exerted direct immune-stimulating properties in dendritic cells and cytokines.”

Finally, she points to new studies nearing completion and publication that demonstrate ElderCraft’s inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication 

, as well as its support for a healthy immune system “by way of exerting prebiotic benefits in humans for a healthy gut,” she says.

Tower noted that because elderberry’s anthocyanins are relatively heat-sensitive and can degrade at temperatures above 90°C—conditions frequently encountered in conventional processing methods—Artemis extracts its ingredient using a proprietary water-extraction and ultrafiltration-concentration process called Iprona Polyphenol Technology (IPT).

“The IPT process’s uniqueness in large part retains and concentrates the full embodiment of our whole fresh and frozen Haschberg European black elderberry fruit,” Tower claimed. That leaves the finished ingredient “highly stable” in its dried extract form, he said, as well as highly water-soluble, palatable, and “organoleptically representative of fresh elderberry fruit.”

Those advantages have helped the ingredient chart an “exceptionally robust” course into formulations ranging from gummies and syrups to soft gels, capsules, chewable tablets, RTD beverages, teas, effervescent powders, and more, said Tower. “And on an even more niche level,” he noted, “ElderCraft formulates well into liposomal suspensions and functional chewing gum.”

Again, to ensure that these formulations deliver the potency consumers expect, Bush suggests that brands insist on elderberry extracts standardized to anthocyanin content and “made with gentle processing that retains other important bioactives within the fruit matrix.” But beyond that, she says, brands should also be on high alert for adulteration.

“When an ingredient’s star rises and it becomes popular,” she explains, “there’s always risk of bad actors getting a piece of the action through dishonest practices like adulteration. Unfortunately, elderberry is no exception.” The result, she says: “Misbranding is an issue in the market, as low-grade elderberry ingredients get passed off as more premium extracts.”

Most clinical data pertain to extracts from the plant’s berry, and not to those from other plant parts, for example. But given that the going rate for destemmed elderberries can be as much as times ten times that of berries with the stems attached

, shady suppliers have an incentive to get in on that action even while selling stem-on berries. Thus, Gafner concedes that though he’s seen little indication of flowers, leaves, or other structures winding up in elderberry products, “brands that economize may inadvertently buy product that’s not all berry.”

But the “bigger concern” for Gafner and others is intentional adulteration with extracts from lower-cost plants containing similar anthocyanins—say, black rice. It’s a temptation that pandemic- and now harvest-induced supply shortages have exacerbated

, he says, and recent studies do, in fact, hint that such adulteration of elderberry supplements “appears to be quite common.”

Gafner’s advice is therefore not buying based on price. “And make sure your extract is authentic,” he says. “If you don’t have an in-house laboratory, you should use a reputable contract-analytical laboratory to authenticate the material.”

Tower agreed. “Adulteration of elderberry—particularly extracts—remains so commonplace that ‘buyer beware’ should be the default position,” he wagered. “When sourcing and qualifying elderberry ingredients, it’s essential to work with leading, transparent, trusted suppliers with clear chain-of-custody oversight from harvest through manufacture, and comprehensive shared quality parameters, including species authentication.”

Again, standardization to anthocyanins is key, he said, adding that brands should “pointedly question suppliers offering high-ratio ‘so-called’ extracts at a low cost.”

Bush agrees, and notes that Artemis has worked with accredited labs and organizations like the ABC, with whom it helped produce industry guidance through ABC’s Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP). She adds that the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) also hopes to support brands’ efforts to “do their due diligence” with an update to its monograph of standardized methods for quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing elderberry ingredients.

But ultimately, she says, “In today’s business climate, it’s essential to work with trusted suppliers who specialize in European black elderberry. Transparent chain-of-custody documentation, from field to final product, should come standard, as should control over raw-material quality.” Like elderberry’s benefits themselves, such advice is timeless.

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 berries and authentication and detection of adulteration in elderberry dietary supplements using UHPLC-PDA-MS

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